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Amir's Selfishness In The Kite Runner

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Amir's Selfishness In The Kite Runner
Amir is essentially a selfish character who needs to redeem himself. At the beginning of the book, Amir witnesses the rape of Hassan. Towards the end of the book Amir brings Hassan's son to America after Hassan's death. Collecting Sohrab and bringing him home to America has challenges which Amir must face in order to redeem himself.

Amir's selfishness costs him his friendship with Hassan. From the beginning of "The Kite Runner" it is evident that Amir and Hassan's relationship was a very close one. However, Amir betrays Hassan and their friendship when Amir watches Hassan being raped by Assef. Amir makes no attempt to stop or prevent the rape. This can be contrasted to when Sohrab cuts himself with a razor when Amir makes the most effort that …show more content…
Hassan used to be a painful memory for Amir, because Amir's selfishness had led to their friendship ending. When Amir saves Sohrab in ways which he had wished that he had saved Hassan. Amir can now look back at Hassan, happily. "Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy..... "For you, a thousand times over," I heard myself say. Then I turned and ran. .......Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting." (Hosseini, 2003, p322-324). The metaphor of "the first flake melting" refers to Amir's redemption beginning, as he renews Sohrab's life and restores his own. Amir was running from his past in Afghanistan with Hassan for years, but when Sohrab entered his life, Amir was able to turn his life back into what it had once been. Since Sohrab is virtually Hassan to Amir, Amir can be with his best friend again. Amir's redemption is complete and he can continue with his …show more content…
He felt like it was necessary to be mean to Hassan, because he was a Hazara. Amir continuously undermines Hassan throughout the first part of the book. However Amir's religious opinions about how to treat Hazara change at the end of the book. "{General Sahib said} 'They will want to know why there is a Hazara boy living with our daughter. What do I tell them?'.... 'And one more thing, General Sahib' I said. 'You will never again refer to him as 'Hazara boy' in my presence. He has a name and its Sohrab.'" (Hosseini, 2003, p315). Assef's influences Amir to judge Hassan unfairly, treating him as a mere servant. When Amir discovered that Sohrab was his nephew, he realised that he didn't want the religious boundary to exist anymore. In any relationship with someone with different ideas or opinions, a person will want to readjust their life, accordingly, and this is what Amir is doing. He was escaping the influence Assef gave him as a
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